Le flotte degli Austrias e gli scali italiani: una messa a punto

Abstract

Since the sixteenth century, the threat of Ottoman armies and Barbary corsairs forced Spain to gradually equip and upgrade a fleet of galleys - organized in teams - which in the "Italian" geopolitical space was headed by the domains that had a maritime projection (Kingdoms of Naples, Sicily, Sardinia) and the "connected" port of Genoa. Furthermore, new territories (the State of the Presidi, the feudal enclave of Finale) were acquired to facilitate navigation within the western Mediterranean borders and the use of Ligurian ports was negotiated with the Republic of Genoa. The maritime war in its various forms was therefore at the base of an elaborate logistic and strategic organization, which is confirmed as one of the salient features of the Habsburg power in the early Modern Age.